


Beauty Awakes

by Skyuni123



Series: AU!New Zealand [1]
Category: Original Work, Sleeping Beauty - Fandom
Genre: AU!New Zealand, Crack, F/M, History rewritten, Humor, Josh is not straight at all, M/M, New Zealand, Romance, Ultima is not a Real Place, Urban Fantasy, slight slash possibly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-23 01:59:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the outskirts of Ultima, New Zealand, Sleeping Beauty is discovered to be living in a castle that really shouldn't exist. It's been four hundred years since she fell asleep and now it's 2012.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ultima

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for NaNoWriMo 2012 as part of a collection that I've done called 'A Plethora of Shorts'. It's a bit crack-ish but anyways. Ultima is based on a small town on the east coast of the North Island of NZ and Metropolis is Auckland.

"Hello, I'm Alison Edwards and we are sorry to interrupt your program; Unicorns, Fairies and Aliens: The Stories Behind the Myths. There has been some breaking news this hour. A hidden secret castle on the outskirts of the small town of Ultima, on the east coast of NZ has just been discovered. We now go there live with our roving reporter, Joshua Moore. Joshua!"  
  
"Thank you Alison. I'm here; live, as this castle is unearthed from a huge mess of climbing weeds outside Ultima. The word is that two school kids, who have apparently scarpered, were exploring the area and found this castle, completely overgrown and with trees growing around it. We're in the middle of a forest, see, viewers, and it's obvious that no-one has been here for quite a long time."  
  
"Right, so Joshua. What could this mean for New Zealand history?"  
  
"Alison, this could completely change what all the historians thought about New Zealand history. This castle clearly predates any European activity in this area. That is, that we know of. This area was only occupied by Maoris until the mid-eighteen hundreds, and going by what current science and historical evidence shows, the Maoris inhabiting the area would not have possessed the technology to make something of this magnitude. This castle also seems be made of materials that we believed, until now, did not exist in New Zealand in that time period."  
  
"Okay, Joshua. I see there is a lot of people around, could you tell me who some of those people are?"  
  
"Well, the people in that corner are some historians from the area. They look very confused and disbelieving. I don't blame them. Plus, there is police here to keep any locals away, and then there is the hired contractor clearing away the trees and debris. Hang on... what's happening here? Uh, viewers at home, I'm not sure if you can see this, but they've cleared everything away! A door's been unearthed! And... I'm not sure if you can see this, but there seems to be a message written on the door! Let's go over there!"

"Viewers, while Joshua is walking to the castle, here are some quick historical statistics about the area. These clearly show that it would have been impossible for the Maori people inhabiting the area before the Europeans to have built this castle. As of now, the origins of this castle are still unknown."

"Okay Alison, if you and the viewers at home would like to look at this. Despite the police wanting us to keep back, we still have a pretty good shot of the door. The inscription reads, "Here lays Beauty, asleep at last. When she is found, she will awake with class." I don't have any idea what that might mean, Alison. However, as not much is happening here on the outskirts of Ultima, I will leave you. I'm Joshua Moore, here live on the scene of a castle unearthing. Back to you Alison."

"This has been quite a strange situation, but as not much is happening in Ultima, we will return you to your scheduled programming. Our website, Squarextv.com will have updates and if anything monumental is returned, we will be back. I'm Alison Edwards at the SquarexTV news centre."

**-Three Hours Later-**

"Hello, I'm Alison Edwards and we, at the SquarexTV news centre are sorry to interrupt your program, the Life and Times of Steve Jobs, with breaking news. As mentioned in the twelve pm bulletin, a castle has been unearthed on the outskirts of Ultima on the east coast. As a follow up to that story, we are crossing live to our reporter on the scene, Joshua Moore. Joshua?"

"Hello Alison, I am here live at the scene of the castle unearthing on the outskirts of Ultima on the east coast. As previously mentioned, this castle was found by a pair of school children, who we haven't found, as of yet. However, there is more exciting news. A person has been found inside the castle. Search teams entered about half an hour ago, and the shout just went up. Like mentioned previously, a person, apparently about my age, female, and dressed in opulent robes has been found inside the castle. And, she's not just a body. She's ALIVE."

"Alive, Joshua? How could that possibly be?

"I don't know, Alison, and the historians on site seem to be just as puzzled as myself. Despite the fact that the girl is breathing fine and doesn't seem injured, an ambulance has been called and look! Here it arrives on the scene now!"

 **-Ten minutes later.** -

"So Alison, I know you've been talking to some historians on SquarexTV, but whilst you were doing that, some ambulance officers entered the building and are just dragging a body out on a gurney now. See, over there! I don't know how this could possibly have happened. Personally, Alison, I believe it's a joke. Or a hoax.”  
“Well, Joshua, we don't have much more time, so we'll get the full story at SquarexTV News at Six. Thank you my roving reporter, Joshua Moore.”

“Thank you Alison. I'm Joshua Moore, reporting live for SquarexTV Breaking News. I'll see you later, viewers.”

-.-

Josh Moore finished the broadcast thankfully. He knew he had to hang around the outskirts of Ultima for a bit so his camera man could film what was happening, but he wanted to get out of here soon. Because he was only a young reporter (he was only twenty one years old) he always got the awfully shitty jobs in the back of beyond towns. He also had that stupid cougar, Alison, ALWAYS trying to flirt with him during broadcasts. Ew. He longed to be an amazing broadcaster, able to put Alison in her place with a flick of his finger or a wink of his eye. Unfortunately, that was all a dream. He smoothed his brown floppy hair back into a more comfortable position. He always had to push it back for broadcasts because it was so naturally unkempt. He smiled at his camera man; a kid named James and instructed him to film whatever he could. He then strode off for a look around. He hadn't been able to get close with the camera on him, but now, perhaps he would be able to.

He quickly rushed towards the castle like structure. It somehow both unnerved him, but also he somehow recognised it. Somehow he knew about it. Somehow... he had seen it before. It seemed almost... homely. He didn't know how or why he knew that, but it unnerved him.  
The ambulance people carrying the gurney with the girl on it moved towards the ambulance parked about fifty metres away. They couldn't park it any closer, due to the extensive amount of trees and other debris. He watched as they passed by. The girl was beautiful, he had to admit. She had long red hair, plaited roughly over one shoulder. She was tall and quite curvy. She seemed almost like a fairy-tale princess. That is, if fairy-tales were real. Which, obviously, they weren't.  
Suddenly, her eyes flew open. They were a brilliant, shocking purple. The people holding the gurney almost gasped and dropped it.

The girl sat up, and SCREAMED! She flung her head around in shock, almost searching for something.  
Josh was so close to her, that he almost wanted to run up to her and try to calm her down. Something though, kept him back. There was something about this that was a bit off.  
The girl's brilliant eyes landed on him. She stared right into his eyes for a second, and then almost, without a thought, lept off the gurney. She stopped screaming, and in one movement, ran over to him and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. She started sobbing and whispered, “Karan! It's so fine to see you!”  
The ambulance people rushed over to them then.  
“Sir?” One of them asked, “Do you know this woman?”  
Josh shrugged, “I've never seen her in my life.”  
Those statements made the girl holding tight to his neck sob even louder and grip his neck even tighter.  
This was bewildering.  
Josh was confused.

The same ambulance person who had spoken previously sighed and said, “If you don't mind, sir, would you accompany us to the hospital? I'm sure the police will want to talk to you.”  
Josh rolled his eyes and sighed. Great. Stuck in this bloody small town for even longer than he needed to be. However, he ignored his pissed off instincts and said, “Sure... I'll come with.”  
The ambulance officer smiled and gestured that he should follow her.  
And that he did albeit a bit more awkwardly because of the girl clinging to his shirt.


	2. The Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh is dragged off with the ambulance. Beauty recognises him and he is confused. Josh is always confused.

In the ambulance, Josh managed to lay the girl down on one of the beds and the ambulance officer he had talked to previously, sedated her to prevent her hurting herself. Josh sat down near the bed and pulled his smart phone out of his pocket. He had to text James. The kid would be going out of his mind worrying without him there.

The ambulance moved off as Josh opened up his message feature. The 3G reception wasn't the best out here, but there was just enough reception to send a message with.

  _Hey man, i've been dragged off with the ambulance crews. Don't worry, ay?  
_ _Josh 3.05pm_

  _Wat? Rly? What am I 'sposed to do nw?  
_ _James 3.06pm_

  _Call a taxi, dickhead. Meet me at the Ultima hospital. Text me when you get there.  
_ _Josh 3.07pm_

_K. Laters.  
_ _James 3.09pm_

_Wait. What bout boss? And footage?  
_ _James 3.09pm_

  _Bring it with you. We'll see if we can get something for six bulletin.  
_ _Josh 3.11pm_

  _K. Laters bro.  
_ _James 3.12pm_

  _Yep. Bye.  
_ _Josh 3.12pm_

 

Damn it. Josh had forgotten about their boss at SquarexTV. She was a nice lady... If you didn't cross her. If you did, well, you wouldn't forget to be on time to meetings in a hurry. Or to do things without her permission.

Josh had committed both of those 'carnal sins'.  
Thankfully, he had gotten off lightly. Well, kind of.

 If lightly was banned from the chocolate biscuits in the work kitchen for a month.

Ah well, he could buy his own biscuits.  
And he was getting off track.

He probably should text his boss.

_Hi.. Did you catch the breaking news at midday and the bulletin at three that I just did?  
_ _Josh 3.15pm_

  _Yes. I did. Why?  
_ _Caitlyn 3.16pm_

  _Well, James is still at the location filming. I've been roped in to going to this hospital with the girl that they found in the building. I'm hoping for some more footage to come out of this.  
_ _Josh 3.20pm_

   
 _You better get some footage out of this. Make sure you're ready for the six news.  
_ _Caitlyn 3.22pm_

  _I will. Promise.  
_ _Josh 3.23pm_

  _Good. You better. Goodbye.  
_ _Caitlyn 3.24pm_

   
  
Okay, so the boss was relatively fine with it. Good. Josh could breathe a sigh of relief over that one turning out relatively positively. It could have been worse. Josh put his phone back in his pocket and sat back in his seat, leaning his head against the wall of the ambulance. The rocking motion was almost soothing... He almost felt lulled into a kind of sleep.....

NOPE. He couldn't sleep. He had to be awake for this interview...

NOPE.

He sat up and peered out of the small ambulance window. He didn't see much, but he could tell that they were pulling into the 'main drag' of Ultima. It was quite small.

Ugh. He wasn't a fan of small towns. He had always lived in big cities for his whole life and being in Ultima was an unwelcome change. However, since he worked for the television news, he was sure he could be sent somewhere a hell of a lot worse.

The ambulance pulled into the long roadway of the hospital. It was made up out of lots of buildings, and one particularly odd looking pipe thing that reached high into the sky.

Josh heard a police siren go off as they pulled into the accident and emergency department. Jeez, were they being ESCORTED? This was weird... surely the girl was only a prank.

The doors of the ambulance opened and Josh stood out of the way of the ambulance officers. He felt a bit out of place for some reason. Oh yeah, because he didn't even know why he was here.

The ambulance officer who had talked to him previously gestured for him to follow them. He shrugged and did. When he entered the hospital, the ambulance woman said, “Stay here, you can fill out some forms for us.”

Josh rolled his eyes but agreed.

He sat in one of the chairs in A&E and absentmindedly tapped his fingers against the arms of the chair he was sitting in. This was dull.

 

His incredibly vapid thoughts (consisting of how hot one of the nurses was and how large... yep.) were interrupted by a buzzing from his pocket. His phone. Yay. He pulled it out of his pocket.

There was one unread message from James. Josh sighed and opened it.

  
_Yo, man, where r u? Im at da hospital.  
_ _James 4.01pm_

_Where in the hospital? It's a big place.  
_ _Josh 4.02pm_

_Outside the stack thing.  
_ _James 4.05pm_

_It took you three minutes to type that?! How did you even get over there? Look, come to Accident and Emergency. I'll find you.  
_ _Josh 4.07pm_

_K.  
_ _James 4.10pm_

   
Josh shook his head. Really, that kid was a bit dopey. However, he was a good cameraman and that was all that mattered.  
He stood up from his chair and went out to find James.

After a bit of searching, he found James just down from the Accident and Emergency, covered in what looked like palm fronds.

Josh shook his head. How? He didn't even know.

 

"Good to see you man." James said as Josh approached.  
"Yeah." Josh replied, "Look, before we go in there, I want to ask one thing. How the hell did you get covered in palm tree leaves?"  
James looked a bit sheepish. "I took a shortcut."  
"What? Through a palm plantation or something?" Josh asked, incredulous.  
"Something like that." James said. "So, what are we exactly doing here?"

"Well, I've been forced to come because the chick they found in the castle recognised me, and you're here because you can hold a camera better than me. Plus, you look cute enough so they won't question you or the camera." Josh explained, wincing at the word cute. That was a bad use of the word. Oops.  
James shrugged. "Alright."

So, they walked back into the Accident and Emergency and sat down on a couple of chairs near the exit. Merely seconds after they had settled down on their chairs, a nurse approached them and said, "Uh, excuse me sirs, but are one of you Mr Moore?"  
"Yeah. But, you can call me Josh." Josh said, "What's happening?"

"Well, Josh, the officers who bought the young lady in told us that the young lady knew you. If you could follow me this way, please?" The nurse said, gesturing.  
Josh rolled his eyes, but agreed. James stood up to go with them, but the nurse said, "Oh, I'm sorry, but he can't come with us."

"Well, he'll have to." Josh said, narrowing his eyes. He needed his wingman (that is, if you could call James that) with him. He needed good footage. He might get a promotion that way. "He's... uh, my brother... I'm supposed to be looking after him and he might wander off. He's that kind of person. Please can he come with, Ms? He won't do any harm." Josh smiled in a slightly flirtatious manner at the nurse. Flirting normally worked...

To Josh's utter delight, the woman kind of blushed and said, "Well... it's a bit against the rules, but yes, I suppose he can come with us."

Josh gestured for James to follow them and not to say anything as they walked off down the corridor. James hurried along, trying not to seem suspicious.

They walked along a couple of corridors, and then into a room. The girl from the castle was lying on a bed, strapped down. She was twisting and turning in a restless sleep.

“The tranquilizer will wear off soon.” The nurse explained, “And we believe it is probably best for you to be here when she wakes up, because she seems to know you.”  
“Uh... Okay..?” Josh said, feeling incredibly confused. “Sure. I'll uh, be here.”

He sat down on one of the chairs next to the bed. James followed, setting his camera back down on the ground and settling down on the chair next to him.

The nurse turned to leave, but then Josh stopped her and said, “Why is she tied down?”

“She had a brief... episode a few minutes ago.” The nurse said with a sigh, “it is better this way. She has no chance of hurting herself now.”  
Josh felt a bit sorry for the girl, but didn't argue with the nurse. He sat back in his chair and bid the nurse farewell... He was on his own now. Well, except for James, but James didn't know much about the situation and was just looking confused.

The girl continued twisting and turning for about another twenty minutes whilst James hummed and Josh played Angry Birds on his iPhone.

 

He hoped when this girl woke up that something would happen, because frankly, this seemed to be going absolutely nowhere at the moment. He was hoping something momentous would come out of this, because really, he could be anywhere else right now, trying to film something actually interesting to get a pay rise. Here, not so much.

Suddenly, James elbowed him. Josh glared at him. He was about to beat level twenty six. “What?” He whispered, almost unaware that he had said it that quietly.

“Look at her!” James said, not quiet at all.

So, Josh looked. The girl had stopped twisting and turning and was staring straight at the ceiling. Her eyes were open.

“Do you think she can hear us?” James whispered to Josh.

Josh didn't know. “I... uh, don't know.” Josh said, “Do you think we should tell someone?”

“Go and see?!” James told Josh.

Josh didn't really see a way that he could back out of it, so sighed and whispered, “Okay. Stay here. Don't do something stupid.”

James nodded and Josh stood up from his chair and walked quietly over to the bed nervously. Something about this was weird. He didn't know what yet and it unnerved the hell out of him.

“Uh... hello?” Josh asked, “Are you awake? Can you hear me?”

The girl didn't move. Josh looked to James helplessly. He bent over the girl. Her eyes were moving like she could see, but she wasn't responding. This was odd. And as creepy as hell.

“Hello?” Josh said a bit louder.

Then, the girl seemed to notice him. She yelped and tried to scramble away, then an air of realisation went over her face. “Karan?! Where am I? What is happening here?!”

She tugged at the restraints that were holding her down. “What is happening, Karan? Why can't I move?”

“Look, I don't know who this Karan guy is.” Josh said, “But, you're obviously very ill. The ambulance people found you in a castle here outside Ultima.”

The girl stared at him, obviously quite confused. “Ultima castle? But... the last thing I remember...”

She was interrupted by one of the machines that she was hooked up to starting to beep loudly. She jumped and stared at it like she had never seen anything like it before. “What! Karan, what is this sorcery?!”  
Josh stared at her, irritated, “Seriously? I just freaking told you that I wasn't this Karan person. And by sorcery, it's simple electronics. Jeez.”  
“Stop this jest right now, Karan!” The girl said fiercely, “I order for you to tell me where I am and what this all is!”  
Josh held up his hands in defense. He wasn't going to get angry at this chick. “My name's not Karan, it is Joshua, and you can't tell me to do things for you. Okay?”  
“Whatever you say, Karan.” The girl said, “Now, release me!”

Josh had to turn away from her for a moment, he was that pissed off. “I can't release you. You're obviously mental. You need help.”

“Mental?” The girl said, “Oh, you mean a bit simple. Nay, I am not. Now, Karan, please tell me where and when I am.”

Josh was tired of this. “Okay darling, since you asked nicely, it is the year two thousand and twelve and you're in a hospital in Ultima, New Zealand.”

The girl's eyes widened at his statement. “What? That cannot be!” She started to breath faster and one of the monitors hooked up to her started beeping loudly. She shrieked and passed out.

About five seconds later the nurse ran in. She carefully took in the girl's appearance and said, “What did you do?”

“...I don't know.” Josh said, confused. “I just told her the date and she passed out.”

The nurse looked even more confused than Josh. “...I wonder... hmm. Never mind. Gentlemen, it's about time you leave. You can come back tomorrow.”

She gently ushered Josh and James out. Josh was irate. Damn it. No footage, no nothing… The bulletin at six would suck.

Josh offered her his phone number so she could call him if anything came up with the girl. She smiled and gladly accepted it.

Josh and James left the hospital, irritated beyond belief. Well, to be honest, it was Josh who was irritated. James was indifferent. As soon as they were outside, James asked, "What do we do now?"

"We call the boss." Josh said, "And find a hotel and send all the footage we've taken today through for the bulletin at six. Then, we come back here tomorrow to see if we can get anything from that chick. Okay?"

"Yep..." James said with a sigh.

 

So, Josh called Caitlyn, their boss, and roughly explained the situation.

 

_"Hello, Caitlyn Evans speaking."_

_"Hey Caitlyn, uh... it's Josh here."_

_"Oh, Joshua, what's happening now?"_

_"Well, I texted you about the castle thing, and unfortunately we haven't got any more information about it, or the person who was found in it."_

_"...I'm not impressed, Joshua."_

_"Yes, I'm sorry. However, the person that they found in the castle recognises and I kind of have to stay around in Ultima for a few days until they find out why she knows me."_

_"..."_

_"So.. James and I will go to a hotel, send our footage through, of what we have for the bulletin at six and then try and find out some more things tomorrow."_

_"Fine."_

_"Okay, you're fine with it? Good. I'll call you tomorrow then, Caitlyn?"_

_"Okay. Don't spend too much money. Make sure you find something newsworthy, Joshua. I'm not impressed."_

_"Bye Caitlyn!"_

   
Oh. She had hung up on him. Josh sighed. The phone called sounded a little safe, but knowing Caitlyn, when they got back to the station, she'd rip their heads off. Josh looked at the time. It was a quarter to five. Shit. They had to find a hotel and send off the footage in the next half hour or so. It needed to be cut together before it was broadcasted and Josh could bet that James was swearing in shock at least once in it. That would need to be bleeped out. It wasn't exactly fit for the general populous' consumption.

 

Josh was lucky that his wages at the TV station were pretty high, because this was an unexpected stay in Ultima. He had expected to stay at least one night, so he did have a bag of clothing and essentials, and so did James, but Josh had a feeling that they'd be stuck in Ultima a lot longer than they had expected. Bugger.

Josh and James had gotten a hire car when they arrived in Ultima and James had driven it to the hospital from the castle site. Their stuff was inside. Josh let out a sigh of relief as he slid into the passenger seat. Good. The weird stuff was over. For now, at least.

Or that was what he hoped.

 

-.-

 

It took them about ten minutes to find a hotel, this one on the main drag of Ultima. It was on the corner of two rivers and looked remarkably fancy for a town the size of Ultima. Josh supposed that they had a lot of people staying there because it was neutral ground. Or something like that. Maybe it was the weather. He didn't know.

The hotel was called the Jade Hotel and was fancy. Josh and James got their room key and went up to the room. It was nice, not amazing, but nice. For a town the size of Ultima.

There was one problem though, that both James and Josh noticed as James fumbled with the key card and opened the door of their fifth floor room.

There was only one bed. GREAT. This was going to be awkward, Josh thought, feeling a bit edgy.

He tried to clear the awkwardness though, "Well... this is going to be a bit cosy, ay James?"

James laughed, "Yes, a bit. For you most likely."

Josh pondered that for a moment. He didn't question it though, because personally, he didn't want to know what James was thinking about. It was too weird for him.

They dumped their gear (what little of it there was) and Josh pulled his laptop out of his bag, quickly booting it up and going onto the (legal) file sharing site that people used to send footage from one town to another. He was surprised how good the reception and the Wi-Fi was in this town. He wasn't going to say it to anyone, but the 3G seemed to be better than it was in his Metropolis flat. Not fair. Not fair at all.

James walked around hooking power cords and fire wire cords to things on their camera so Josh could send the footage off after a quick reviewing of it. After they had checked over the footage (Josh definitely noticed a few things that would have to be removed and bleeped out), Josh started to upload it to the file sharing site. It would apparently take about fifteen minutes, which was cutting it a bit fine to the five thirty deadline that he had mentally given himself, but it was a lot better than nothing. Footage was better than no footage.

He lent back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. It was then that he realised he was starving. How long had it been since he had eaten? It had to be at least before eleven, before he and James had been flown down here to report on this story full of dead ends and confusion. He vowed to go down to the Jade Restaurant later and get something to eat before he starved.

When Josh looked around for James he noticed that James was sitting on a chair near the window and was looking across the city of Ultima.

"What are you looking at?" Josh asked curiously.

"Oh... nothing." James said, "It's just nice not to see endless traffic and traffic jams."

"Don't you like Metropolis?" Josh asked, "I thought everyone liked it, for one reason or another."

"Nah... It's not really my thing." James said, "Sure, there are things that small towns don't have, but this place has more heart than Metropolis, ten-fold."

Josh was curious. "How do you mean?"

"Come and look at this." James said, beckoning Josh over to the window. Josh slid out of his chair and walked over to him.

"Look at that." James said, pointing at something.

Josh looked. There was an elaborate mural of a dolphin playing in the waves on the side of a large building across the street from them. It was a nice mural, Josh thought, but he couldn't exactly see what James was getting at. Then, he noticed it. Holy crap, was that...

“That's actually the Ultima police station that the mural is on.” James said, noting Josh's glance. “Do you really think they'd leave it there if that was the Metropolis police station?”

“Nope...” Josh said slowly, trying to comprehend what was going on.

“That's what I like about small towns.” James explained. “They have hearts. They endorse creativity rather than stifling it. They just kick back and relax and not worry all the time like people in the city.”

Josh pondered that for a moment, and the moment, the slightly touching moment, was gone. Okay, so the guy had a point, despite the fact that Josh didn't want to admit it. Huh. That was annoying.

"Okay... You might be onto something there..." Josh said, sheepishly.

James smirked, "Yep."

As much as Josh didn't want to admit it, now that he got more of a chance to get to know the kid, he was beginning to realise that his initial impressions weren't correct. The kid, uh, James, was actually quite smart, although he did have a bit of a warped insight on things and couldn't spell to save his life.

"Right." Josh said, trying to distract himself from his rambling inner monologue. "What shall we do now?"

James shrugged, "I heard they have a pool here?" He continued to stare out the window.

"..We have no swimming gear. Or at least, I don't. I packed for one night in cheap ass accommodation." Josh explained.

"I spotted a store next door when we came in." James explained. "It was a general purpose clothing store thing... They might have some swimming gear."

Okay. The kid, DAMMIT, James, had a point.

"Alright, if you want to go down to the pool or go and find some swimming gear or something, I'll hang around here until the uploading of the video files is done... it shouldn't be more than ten minutes, I reckon." Josh instructed.

"...Okay. Sure thing." James said, directing his gaze from out the window to Josh. "S'laters."

He grabbed some things and wandered out of the room absentmindedly. Josh shook his head. That dude... was quite weird. He... he didn't even know about him.

Josh waited for another twelve minutes, then his laptop beeped. The upload was over. Good. Now he could go and do something remotely interesting.

 

-.-

 

Josh found the clothing store downstairs, in the shop next to the hotel's lobby. It looked to be a bit cheap, but he had no other option and he didn't want to be cooped up in the hotel room until it was dinner time, so he went inside.

It smelt vaguely of incense and Josh was a bit wary of it.

After he had found a pair of relatively well fitting swimming shorts, he payed for them with his credit card. He was TOTALLY claiming back from the company after this. The ridiculous expenses were beginning to be annoying.

Josh got his towel and went off to find the swimming pool with his new swimming shorts.

After wandering through a mass of rabbit-warren like corridors, and catching several tantalising glimpses of the pool, he went down a long staircase and completely stumbled upon it by accident.

The pool was awesome. It was in the very middle of the hotel complex and couldn't be seen from outside. When Josh looked up, he could see the sky. Awesome. It also had a small waterslide and a small hot pool next to it.

James was floating on his back in the middle of the pool, and a family with small kids was staring at him, a bit bewildered.

Josh rolled his eyes, and quickly went to the changing rooms to get into his new swimming gear. As soon as he had done that, he went out to the pool and quickly said to the family who were still staring at James, "Uh... Don't worry about this, I'll deal with it."

He quickly grabbed James's arm and pulled him over to the side of the pool. James flipped off his back and looked at Josh, seemingly confused.

"What?" James asked, looking bewildered.

"Seriously? Do you not know? Jesus man, are you stoned?" Josh said, "Look, never mind... just be careful near the kids, okay?"

James nodded, still looking confused.

Josh sighed internally. Sometimes, there was no hope. No hope at all.

 

They swum around for a while, and ended up having a water fight that ended up in them getting kicked out of the pool area for the night by the particularly pissed off looking lifeguard.

Josh chortled as they headed back to their room. "I've never been kicked out of a pool before!"

"..What have you been kicked out of?" James said, slowly.

"...Uh... A couple of malls in Metropolis." Josh said, trying to look innocent, but failing epically.

"Why?" The ever curiously James asked.

"...No reason..." Josh said, feeling slightly ashamed.

"Oh come on." James sighed, "You've come this far."

"... Well, I got caught shoplifting." Josh sighed. "...Shoplifting Space Bars. More than once."

James burst out laughing. "You have got to be kidding me. That is the most ridiculous thing ever."

"...Yes... I know." Josh said, trying not to laugh as well.

 

-.-

 

They had a quick dinner, trying to spend as little as possible in the Grill restaurant downstairs in the hotel. Josh wondered what they'd do about breakfast, since the restaurant wasn't open for breakfast, but he'd worry about it later. Or tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow would be good. Anyway, he thought the hotel had room service.

 

Nearing ten pm, the mood in the room got a bit awkward. Well, at least for Josh. He wasn't exactly up for sleeping in the same bed as the dude who he had barely known a few hours ago. He played a few games on his laptop, thankful for the free Wi-Fi. Then, it was eleven pm and he was feeling tired and James was looking tired.  
“Ookay, man... I 'spose it's bedtime?” Josh said, awkwardly, “Cause we've got to go back to talk to that chick tomorrow and I don't know what time...”

James agreed.

After they got into their night attire, the really awkward part started. Well, again, at least for Josh. James didn't seem at all concerned either way.

Then, they got into bed.

Josh felt incredibly awkward, but felt he had to bring something up. “Uh... look mate, but there is a center point in this bed, can you not cross it? Okay?”

James looked surprised, but said, “Sure... okay. Whatever. Whatever you say.”

Josh was surprised at how well that went down, but still felt a bit out of his depth. He hadn't ever had to sleep in the same bed as another guy before, and frankly, it was a little weird for him.

Josh turned out the light, and turned away from James. The other guy seemed to fall asleep really fast, as if he was completely fine with the situation. However, Josh took a while to fall asleep, because he was running the whole weird situation over in his head. The whole day, since he and James had been flown into Ultima had been completely weird and had been an entirely new situation than he was used to. He didn't know what was going to happen tomorrow, but he had a feeling that it was going to be pretty damn weird.

 


	3. Beauty Escapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beauty escapes the hospital with help from Josh and James. They meet some mysterious men.

The next day dawned uncomfortably bright, with the sun shining right in through the window and onto Josh's face. He opened his eyes and squinted in the far too bright light. Ugh. Sun. Sometimes he wondered if he was a vampire.  
Then, he remembered that he was in bed with another dude. Oh yes... about that. Said dude was curled around him. Well... this was awkward. And slightly not what he wanted to be feeling first thing in the bloody morning. Okay.  
Josh quickly crawled out of the bed, trying not wake the other guy up. That would just make things even more awkward, and he didn't want that. He quickly got changed, grabbed his wallet and phone, wrote a note for the still dead to the world James and went on a hunt for his breakfast.

 He was barely out of the hotel lobby and down the street when his phone buzzed, startling him. Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. There was a text from James.

  _Joshhh... where r u?  
_ \- _James 8.20am_

 Josh rolled his eyes and replied.

 I _'m on the hunt for breakfast. I'm hungry. Where are you?  
_ - _Josh 8.22am_

_In the hotel.  
_ - _James 8.23am_

_Obviously. Would you like me to come and find you so we can have food?  
_ - _Josh 8.24am_

_Yep.  
_ - _James 8.26am_

Josh rolled his eyes. Seriously? This was ridiculous. He wandered back into the hotel lobby, and lo and behold, there was James, looking quite confused.  
“Howdy partner.” Josh said, and then immediately regretted it. That was a bit too odd for him.  
James looked incredibly relieved to see him. “Josh, where did you go?”  
“I was looking for food. Now, if you want breakfast, come with me.” Josh said, indicating to outside the hotel. He walked off, and James followed slowly.  
They wandered around for a bit until they found a popular fast food chain known for its greasy food and desperate attempts at healthiness.

“This looks good.” James said slowly. Josh agreed. It was cheap, thus making Caitlyn's demands met, and it was tasty. He'd probably regret it later, but hey, why not?  
They had a short, slightly greasy breakfast, most of which Josh wasn't entire sure what it was.  
Unsurprisingly, he did feel like crap afterwards.

 -.-

They went back to the hotel room after their particularly unsavoury breakfast. IT was about nine thirty am when Josh's phone rang, playing _Short Skirt, Long Jacket by Cake._ Josh put down his laptop, where he had been watching a You Tube video and then answered his phone, cutting the song off abruptly in the middle of a sentence.  
“It's Josh here, what's up?” He asked.  
James looked at him curiously as Josh listened to the person who had just called him. It was the nurse who had talked to them yesterday from Ultima's local hospital.  
“So then, shall we come and see her at some point today then?” Josh said to the nurse inquisitively.   
James raised a confused eyebrow.  
“We should? Okay... we'll be there in, oh...” Josh quickly looked at the screen of his iPhone, “about ten minutes or so? At about a quarter to ten?”  
Josh listened for about another half a minute. “Okay, see you then.” He hung up the phone and said to James, “Uh... so, that nurse who I gave my number to yesterday just called and said that the chick who was recovered from that castle thing is up and about. The nurse says she's been talking about us and wants us to go and see her.”

"Okay." James didn't look particularly happy.  
"We might be able to get some good footage!" Josh said, trying to lighten the mood slightly.  
James rolled his eyes, but brightened up a bit. 

-.-

They got to the hospital at ten to ten. Then, they went to the admissions desk to find out where the girl that they had met yesterday was. They didn't know a name, so they gave their names, and the desk clerk recognised them right away. Clearly the nurse they had talked to yesterday had passed the message around.  
"You're up on the fifth floor." She said. "Room sixteen."  
So, they went up to the fifth floor in the lift. It was surprisingly spacious.  
Then when they arrived at the fifth floor, they walked about trying to find room sixteen. After four minutes of searching, they found it. The door was shut and Josh knocked hesitantly.  
The door was opened by the same nurse that had talked to Josh on the phone. She quickly introduced herself as Nurse Delaney. She also said, "She's been spouting strange things all night. We're thinking of getting her to do a psyche test. She seems a bit out of it."  
Josh sighed, “I guess I'll talk to her? It can't do any harm.”  
The nurse agreed. “I'll let you three have a bit of privacy, okay? If you need me, I'll be just down the hall at the nurses' station.”  
She slipped past them and down the hallway.

Josh looked at James, and with a sigh, Josh put his hand on the door handle and they entered the hospital room.  
Josh had about a five second view of a room with a nice view over Ultima, when he was abruptly jumped on by what looked basically like a mass of messy red hair.  
Josh quickly and carefully prised the crazy girl off him and sat her down on a chair. Josh and James sat down also.  
"It's good to see that you finally came for me, Karan!" The crazy redhead said. "These people have been telling me that I am sick and need healing. I need absolutely no such thing, please Karan, get me out of here. This strange sorcery is very stressful."  
"Okay, so let me get a few things straight, crazy red headed lady..." Josh said, putting his hands up in defense. "Number one, I have no flipping clue who this Karan dude is. I am not Karan. My name is Josh. I don't know any Karan’s, and I don't even think Karan is a name that is used nowadays."  
"Not true." James interrupted. "I did some googling last night after she yelled that you were Karan. It has roots in Sanskrit and means helper or companion."  
"Yes, thanks for that James." Josh said, completely ignoring him, "And for the second thing, you are obviously mental. You need a lot of help. The things that you are yelling, the way that you speak... it's too weird. You need help."  
"Look, I know you are Karan." The girl said, "But Karan must be confused... or something of that manner. So, I shall introduce myself and I hope that will spur Karan back to life."  
"...Go on..." Josh said, prompting her along.

"Well, Karan, and your consort there..." The girl said, pointing at James who looked a bit put out. "I am Princess Beauty, of the Ultima lineage. The last time I saw you would have had to been about three weeks ago, just before you rode off into battle against the Norwegians. We hadn't word about the state of your troops since then... but now, you are here!"  
"The Norwegians? In New Zealand?" Josh said, snorting, "I don't know what hallucinogenic substance is that you are on... but it must be damn strong."  
"Karan, don't try meddling in politics that you clearly know nothing about." The girl, sorry, Beauty, said. "The Norwegians invaded, and your army went to fight them off."  
"My army?" Josh said, confused.  
"You have an army?" James said, snorting.  
This was ridiculous.  
"Oookay.. Beauty, or whatever your name is..." Josh said, "Let us go with, what was the last thing that you remember?"  
Beauty pondered for a moment. "Well... I was feeling rather ill one night, and the warlock of Ultima castle had given me a fairly potent potion to drink to stop the ill feeling. I remember taking it, thinking it felt quite bitter and then falling asleep.  
"You were drugged..." James said, slowly.  
"Wait. Wait. Hang on." Josh said, "We believe her now? That's ridiculous. She's obviously on something. What she says completely rewrites history. Surely there'd be some kind of historical evidence if this was true. And really, how long ago was this supposed to have happened?" Josh was incredulous.

"Beauty?" James asked.  
"..Yes, consort?" Beauty replied, turning to him with a slight pretentious look on her face.  
"First of all, I'm not a consort.. whatever that is.. I'm James, and second of all, what was the date when you took the potent potion thing?" James asked.  
"It was the year of our lord... fifteen hundred and seventy-eight." Beauty said, her face furrowed in concentration.  
"Holy crap..." Josh said, breathing heavily. This was ridiculous.  
James, meanwhile, had gotten his laptop out and was typing madly on it.  
'What are you doing strange consort James man?" Beauty asked.  
"Oh, I'm just googling something." James said, barely listening to her.  
"Goo-gle, what?" Beauty said, confused.  
"Look, never mind." Josh said, "What are you looking for, man?"  
"Well, Beauty said she was called Beauty.. and I'm looking up dates for something..." James said absentmindedly.  
"FOR WHAT?!" Josh said impatiently.  
"For the earliest the story of Sleeping Beauty had been heard of." James said, "She said she was called Beauty, she fell asleep WAYYY back in the day and then she woke up here, looking absolutely stunning, if you don't mind me saying, Beauty."  
Beauty giggled, "Thank you, consort man."  
Josh rolled his eyes. Typical. It would be James getting all the flirting done.  
"It all fits!" James exclaimed. "It says here that the Sleeping Beauty fable was first heard of in the early sixteen hundreds. That would allow for time for the story to be passed around a bit, obviously meddled with to make the waking up by the true love's kiss bit and then heard of!"

Josh stared at James, incredulous. “You're seriously thinking about this? Like... Like it's true?”  
“Well, why not?” James said, “It all fits.”  
“Your consort believes me, Karan.” Beauty said, “Now, why won't you?”  
“Well, perhaps because I have an ounce of sense?” Josh said.  
“Well, obviously you don't, because you're not listening to her.” James piped up.  
Josh glared at him. “Not helping-” Then he was hit with a huge spear of pain, right through his head. He fell to the floor, barely feeling the impact. His mind was somewhere else.

_He was wearing strange, medieval clothing, and large pieces of sheet metal, that looked like armour. He was riding a grey horse, and she was mumbling under her breath at how much she wanted to be back in the fields, not heading into a battle. He agreed with her. He wanted to be back in the arms of his true love, Beauty, not heading into a fight that they had absolutely no chance of winning. The Norwegians completely overtook their forces, in sheer size and strength. Sure, they had talking animals and things like that on their side, but they had catapults and fearsome new weapons that he, Karan, had never heard of, and much less seen before.  
_ _He looked around him. He was surrounded by his troops, loyal friends and men who had vowed to look after him and their country until the very end._

_It had been three weeks since he had seen his Beauty, and he missed her. He was sure she had missed him too.  
_

_Suddenly, he heard a bugle sound. This was it. He had to give the order now, to send his troops and friends into a situation where they would all die. He didn't want to, but he had to save his Beauty, and try and protect as much of the county of Ultima as possible._  
 _He stiffened, took a deep breath and patted his loyal mare on her neck one last time._  
 _Then, he sat up, raised his sword in the air and yelled, “We ride, for ULTIMA!”  
Then the crowd around him surged as the rode and rushed towards the advancing Norwegians coming over the crest of the hill in front of them.  _

_It was a short, bloody battle. He saw people he knew, people he loved, torn to pieces around him as he gravely fought on. His head spun and he fought the urge to hurl up his breakfast at the sight and smell of the blood and gore around him. But, he had to fight. He had to save all he could. He wasn't going back to the castle; that much was obvious. He had to save as many lives as he could. He would go down fighting._

_And, he did go down fighting._

_Scarcely minutes later, just as the sun had reached its exact centre point in the sky, his fighting arm slipped, and he missed a sword aimed for his stomach. He felt it pierce his skin and burn like fire as it entered his stomach._

_But, he didn't go down. Not yet. He had to get to the leader of the Norwegians. Without him, the Norwegians would be scattered. He rode his tired horse one last time, towards one last adversary. He jabbed one last time towards the heart of the Norwegians’ distracted leader, and watched one last time as he died, on the point of his sword._

_Then, he bid his lovely grey mare farewell and told her to run, one last time, as he fell to the ground, next to the leader of the Norwegians' body, and died._

Josh flew back to consciousness by Beauty pouring a glass of water over his face and James slapping him on the cheek.  
“Karan, are you with us?” Beauty asked.  
“..I think so...” Josh said, sitting up. “...I just had the strangest vision.”  
Beauty didn't seem surprised. “Yes, well, those happen to those gifted with the power of the Sight quite often. What did you see?”  
Josh looked at James, who shrugged, and said, “I was the leader of a great army. I..I WAS Karan.. and we were fighting the Norwegians... I killed the leader of the Norwegians, and then.. I died. On the battlefields.”  
Beauty looked stricken. “No!” She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “It cannot be!”  
Josh wanted to tell Beauty one thing before they went too far into this business. He had to believe her now... That vision seemed all too real. “Look, Beauty, you do realise it is the year two thousand and twelve? It's about four hundred years since that happened.”  
Beauty looked shocked. “How could that possibly be? I would be a withered old spinster by now.”  
“...Okay, sure, if people in your little world live to four hundred years of age, then sure.” Josh said, “Most probably the warlock guy who gave you the thing to cure your illness slipped something else in there to make you sleep for four hundred years.”  
  
Josh said that, then realised exactly what he had said. He actually believed in this crap? Why.. why on earth was he believing in it?  
James nodded. “That sounds fairly legit. It sounds realistic.”  
“Yes.. if we're all on drugs!” Josh yelped. “This is ridiculous.”  
“Karan, or Josh, or whatever title you chose to call yourself by, you just experienced a vision. A vision that put you in the mind of someone else. How can you not believe that what I say is true? It is not that you don't believe the existence of magic and a land that history can't explain, it's that you don't want to believe your destiny.” Beauty explained.  
Jeesh. That was deep for a girl whose name is Beauty, Josh thought. “Supposing I did believe you and this weird, messed up contradictory to human history world thing, what would you have me do?”  
“You would get me out of here. I have not lost my mind; the simple human healers just can't comprehend my existence.” Beauty said, “I don't like it in here.”  
“Ookay...” Josh said, “And how would we do that exactly?”  
“You would be as sneaky as a hunter, and would sneak me out of here.” Beauty said. 'Then you would take me to your place of residence and there you would protect me.”  
“Ookay, Beauty, let me get one thing straight. Your fantastical old-time rules are not in effect here. I just can't sneak you out of here, there are strange people called security guards who prevent that from happening.” Josh said.  
“Oh, Karan, please? Please?” Beauty said, almost begging, “I am not used to being inside for so long. I reside in the outdoors.”  
Josh sighed.  
  
Then, James cut over whatever Josh was about to say, “Beauty, we'll do what we can, please, excuse us for a moment.” He grabbed Josh's sleeve and pulled him out of the hospital room. Beauty was left gazing at the door, with one perfect eyebrow furrowed in confusion.  
“What the hell was that for?” Josh said to James, pulling his sleeve out of the kid's grasp.  
“I believe her.” James said simply, “And I think we should get her out of here. She's not used to it, and they'll just keep on hassling her about what she raves on about until we remove her from the situation.”  
Josh raised an eyebrow. That was possibly the longest sentence that he had ever heard James say. “Okay, well how on earth do you suggest that we do that? There's loads of nurses and security around. We'd be caught in a heartbeat.” 

So then James told him a plan, a plan that sounded surprisingly watertight for something that James came up with.

“...It sounds okay.” Josh said, after James had finished, “But, what the hell do we do with her afterwards? Seriously, they'll be looking for her... what on earth do we do then?”  
James shrugged, “Meh.. We'll deal with it when we come to it.”  
Josh rolled his eyes. Okay. Whatever. If they were caught and imprisoned, it was all James’s fault.   

-.-

So, they left the hospital and Beauty, vowing to return at some point later in the day. Then, Josh and James went into town for a quick lunch at a sushi bar in the middle of town. They ate quickly, and then went to find the things they needed to get Beauty out of the hospital unannounced. They had talked to the nurse about Beauty's condition when they left. They had found out that Beauty was fine, though they suspected that she had some kind of mental disease because of her random spouting of historical things. So, she would be fine to get out of the hospital.. and they wouldn't need to steal any drugs or things to take with them. Josh had also asked Nurse Delaney why Beauty wasn't allowed to leave, and she had simply said, “People need to talk to her.” and abruptly changed the subject. _Suspicious_ , Josh had thought.

James and Josh went into the closest dollar store and bought a cheap blonde wig for about nine dollars. They then went into a popular chain clothing store and bought a pair of jeans, a hoodie and jandals that looked as though they would hopefully fit Beauty. She had been dressed in a hospital gown at the hospital, and the only other clothes she had were her robes, which weren't particularly unobtrusive. They were all paid with using cash, because Josh didn't want their shopping to be traced. He was becoming paranoid and it was annoying him.

They planned to go back to the hospital about a quarter to six, which was just after work finished for most of the people in town, and hopefully there'd be a lot of people there visiting so the nurses would be rushed off their feet and wouldn't check on a healthy patient until James and Josh had gotten in and taken Beauty out of the hospital.

Josh and James then went back to the Jade Hotel and hung about on their laptops for a couple of hours, just killing time until about twenty past five. Josh felt sick as twenty past five approached. He had never done anything like this before (quite obviously, medieval princesses didn't turn up every day) and wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Josh looked over at James, who seemed to be fine. He was playing some kind of platform game on his laptop and listening to something and laughing.

How on earth did he do it? Josh didn't know, but he desperately wished he did.

They left at a twenty past five, with James carrying an unobtrusive bag with the blonde wig, the jandals, the jeans and the hoodie in it.

They drove to the hospital in silence, both members of the duo pondering over what they had to do in their heads. Or, at least Josh was, whilst trying not to drive the rental car into trees and other cars.  
Then when they got to the hospital, Josh sat in the car whilst James went in first. It would make it seem less suspicious. Hopefully, at least. Thankfully, the hospital car park seemed quite full, so that would presumably mean that there were a lot of people inside.  It was great that their entire plan hinged on a variable that could change at any moment.

Five minutes later, Josh slid out of the car and headed into the hospital, trying not to look suspicious in the crowds of people walking around the hospital. He quickly made his way up to the fifth floor and looked around for James. James was sitting on a chair just down the hallway from Beauty's room. The hallway was quite crowded, with people walking down it every few seconds. This was perfect.  
Josh and James quickly snuck down the corridor and quietly into Beauty's room. She was waiting for them, with her robes in a neat pile on her bed and her long hair tied back against her head, ready for the wig.   
Josh's heart was thudding loudly in his ears. If anyone discovered them now, they were screwed. James gave Beauty the clothing and they turned their backs as she quickly got changed.   
“...Uh, boys? How.. on earth do I wear these?” Beauty said, her voice barely portraying her confusion and anxiety.

Josh rolled his eyes. “The jeans, the pant type things, they're worn on your legs. The jumper, top thing is worn on your torso. The other things go on your feet. Okay?”  
Beauty still seemed confused, but said, “...Uh, okay?”  
There was some more strange noises, and then Beauty said, “Okay, boys, you can turn around now. I am clothed.”  
They turned around and despite the fact that Beauty had never seen the twenty first century clothes before, she was remarkably well dressed. She hadn't figured out the wig though.

Josh had some previous experience with wigs. He was quite into drama in high school and he had been made to wear a wig more than once. He wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but it was actually an alright feeling. He quickly showed Beauty how to gather her head on her head and pull her wig over the top. He then tucked the bits of red hair that were still showing back under the wig. It looked alright.. Though there wasn't much he could do about the fakeness of the wig. 

They headed out of the hospital as fast as they could, James walking with the disguised Beauty and Josh walking about five or so metres behind, as though not to arouse suspicion. They managed to make it out of the hospital and back to the car without being pulled up. Thank GOD, Josh thought, although he wasn't particularly religious, he felt the occasion deserved it.

Now, what now?

 

Josh slowly drove them back to the Jade Hotel, slowly as to avoid crashing because his hands were shaking on the wheel. They went back into their hotel room, Beauty still wearing her blonde wig and Josh collapsed on their bed, about an inch away from having a nervous breakdown.

However, James seemed fine, “Well, that worked!”

“Yes, and what do we do now?” Josh said bitterly, “We've got a girl from four hundred years ago in our hotel room, in a town we barely know, WHAT, tell me WHAT the HELL are we going to do now, James?!”  
Neither James nor Beauty seemed concerned.

Beauty had flopped down on the bed and lifted her head up just after Josh had finished his slight mental breakdown. She pulled her wig off and looked at it. “Is this the only bed?” She asked, “There are two of you. Where did the other one sleep?”  
Josh and James looked at each other, and Josh blushed. “Well...” He began.  
Then Beauty seemed to clue in, “Oh.. you both slept here. Okay.” She shrugged. Clearly two men sleeping in the same bed wasn't a worry in her world. 

 “Yeah..” Josh said sheepishly.  
Beauty shrugged. “Okay.”  
“…So, what do we do now?” Josh asked to mainly Beauty.  
“Well, I do not know.” Beauty said, “I barely know anything about your world, and believe me, if I did, I would be out of here as fast as the crow flies.”  
Josh looked at her, confused, “You know, I think you used that sentence wrong.”  
“Well, I do not know.” Beauty said, “The way your race speaks is a mystery to me.”  
“…Whatever.” Josh said, “But still, what the HELL do we do now?”  
Beauty sighed and flopped her head down on the bed. “Well, I would like to sleep, boys.”

Josh rolled his eyes at James over Beauty’s head. Okay.. This was getting weirder and weirder by the minute.  
 

So, they were sat there for about twenty minutes, with Beauty snoring gently, and both James and Josh playing on their laptops. It was about six thirty when James looked up from his laptop with a shocked look on his face.   
“Uh… Josh, come and look at this..” He said, a bit worried.

Josh placed his laptop down carefully on the floor and walked over to James. He stuck his head over James’s shoulder and looked at what he was reading.  
James was on an article on the SquarexTV homepage. It simply read “Woman recovered from castle presumed missing.”  
Josh scanned the article. It was about Beauty. Oh.. crap.. This was not good. Not good at all. They were freaking screwed.  
The end of the article read as follows, “The whereabouts of the girl discovered from the castle (name unknown) are unknown as of six pm. However, investigators are following up on a few leads.”  
 

"Oh my god, this is not good." Josh said, trying hard not to panic. "This is not good. At all."  
James rolled his eyes. "It'll be fine."  
"Uh.. no it won't!" Josh yelped. "We were the only people who visited Beauty, that we know of and sooner or later they are going to find out where we are staying and come and visit us..."   
Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by an ominous knock on the door.  
"Oh look!" Josh said, flinging his arms up in the air, "I wonder who that might be!"  
James looked panicked for the first time in this entire plan mission kidnap thing. "Okay.. I slightly agree with you now."  He nudged Beauty, who flew awake with a gasp. "Uh.. Beauty, can you hide somewhere?"

Beauty, bless her soul, did exactly what they asked, by clambering off the bed quietly and hiding in the cupboard.

"You open the door." Josh nudged James.  
"No, YOU open the door." James elbowed Josh, "You're the one with all of the authority."  
Josh rolled his eyes, but slowly and surely walked over to the door and opened it. "What's up?" He asked before he even looked at who was outside.

Then he jumped back in fright.

Outside the door were two very large, very dangerous looking men, dressed in leather coats. Josh sighed, "What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Where is the princess?" One of the men (to be honest, Josh could barely tell them apart), said loudly.  
"Princess? What princess? This isn't Mario, you know? You don't have to rescue-" Josh was elbowed aside as the two men entered the room.  
Josh debated whether or not to run for it, but then realised he'd probably have absolutely no chance against two men whose thighs were the size of tree-trunks. Small tree trunks, but still tree trunks none the less. He sat down on the chair near the doorway with a sigh. This was annoying. Very annoying.

The two men marched through the room, elbowed James out of the way and looked under the bed. Since Beauty wasn't there, it was fairly obvious that she'd be in the only other hiding place in the bare hotel room, the closet.  
They stormed over to the closet whilst Josh and James exchanged confused and slightly bewildered looks. Then, the men ripped open the closet door to find Beauty standing there, looking defiant.  
"Princess Beauty, you have to come with us." The man who hadn't previously spoken said.

"..Uh... why must I?' Beauty said, looking irritated, "I like it here, these people are kind."  
"You must come with us." The man repeated. "And so must you two." He pointed at James and Josh.  
James held up his hands in a 'why me?' type of pose. Josh just stared at the two burly men, confused and also a bit annoyed. He didn't know why they were heading for the princess first, he thought they would head for James and him, to arrest them for kidnapping or whatever bloody crime they were committing. 

However, the men roughly grabbed the Princess and one of them held her tight, whilst handcuffing her wrists. Then, they did the same to the very confused James and Josh.

It was five seconds later when the men squirted a strange liquid into the princess's face and her head lolled back. Josh struggled in the grip of the men holding him, trying to get to the now unconscious Beauty. However, a few seconds later, the men squirted the strange liquid in James's face, and he quickly fell asleep, and then into Josh's face. He tried to fight it for a few seconds, but then was unwillingly tugged down into the arms of Morpheus and a very, very deep sleep.


	4. The Society

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Society knows all. The Society runs your life. You don't know about the Society.

Josh's eyes shot open. He was staring at a particularly fluorescent light on the ceiling of a room he didn't recognise. Ugh. What had happened? Then he remembered what had happened to Beauty, James and him back at the Jade Hotel. Ugh.

He struggled to sit up; noticing finally when he did sit up that he was lying on the floor of an entirely grey room, with bright fluorescent lights in the ceiling. Beauty and James weren't around and that didn't help Josh's feelings of anxiety at all.

There was a large table in what looked to be the exact centre of the room, and two chairs next to it, one on either side of the table. Josh pulled himself up off the floor slowly and stumbled over to one of the chairs. He collapsed in it and put his head on the table.

He had a wicked headache, a lot like the one you get if you have a hangover, and the cool feeling of the table helped him feel slightly more alive.  
Then, after a minute or so of trying to relax a bit, he looked around the room again. There was no door! The room had no door! What on earth.... How had he gotten in here!  
All there was were seamless walls made out of the strange grey shiny substance. It was disconcerting as well as annoying. Josh sighed. There was nothing he could do until his captors came to find him, and he had no idea when that could be.  
He put his head back down on the table again, willing himself to sleep again. That might at least get rid of the headache.

However, he was denied from his slumber by a strange whirring sound. Josh looked up again, and if he hadn't seen it, he mightn't have believed it. A section of the wall was peeling back;  
to form what looked like a door. Josh sat up. Perhaps now he could get some answers. Hopefully.  
Josh could see through the gap in the wall and see something that looked like a corridor, a very white corridor behind it. However, his view was soon obscured by a woman, who didn't look too much older than him, wearing black leather and with bright red hair, entering into the room through the strange wall door thing. She was carrying what looked to be a glass of water and some pills.  
As soon as she had entered the room, the wall door thing closed again and the walls of the room were seamless once more.

The woman sat down at the table opposite Josh. She smiled reassuringly and said, "Hi, I'm Kaila."  
"Uh... hi? I'm Josh." Josh said.  
"Yes, we know." Kaila said.  
We? So there was more than one of them? Was this some kind of group thing?  
"..Where are my friends?" Josh asked, his mind immediately going to James and Beauty.  
"They're fine. They are just being held elsewhere." Kaila said, in what sounded like a reassuring tone.  
Josh wasn't convinced. "Really?"  
Kaila rolled her eyes in a way that seemed quite similar to how Josh usually acted. “Okay, Joshua, I'll prove it to you, shall I?” She pointed at the wall opposite to where the strange door thing had appeared from, and a square patch of the shiny grey wall began to shimmer and slowly turn from grey to white.

Then, a dual screen view of two security cameras appeared. One was of Beauty talking to a large beefy looking guy whilst sitting at the same kind of table that Josh was sitting it, and the second feed was of James talking to another woman, who looked a lot like Kaila, whilst also sitting at a similar kind of table to Josh. They seemed to be fine. At least, it looked like it.   
“That's my twin sister.” Kaila said, in response to Josh's confused expression.  
Josh nodded. Right. Kaila pointed at the wall again and the feed disappeared.  
“So.. why did you guys capture us?” Josh asked, “Aside from the whole 'we stole a princess' thing. Oh, and also, who the hell are you guys?”  
Kaila sighed and placed her hands flat on the table. “Okay, Joshua, as you know, I am Kaila. My twin sister, and the other guy you saw talking to Beauty, plus some other people are part of a vast network called the Society.”

“...Okay..” Josh said, comprehending that. “..And what do you guys do?”   
Kaila looked as though she didn't want to tell Josh that, but she relented, “We...uh... cover things up. Things that the human race shouldn't be exposed to at this point in time.”  
“What? Like Area 51?” Josh asked, incredulous and trying not to snort.   
“..Well, that was a...uh.. certain lapse in judgement...” Kaila said, looking angry.  
“What, are you saying Area 51 is real?” Josh asked.  
“After all you've seen, a medieval princess and all, you don't believe in the existence of aliens?' Kaila said simply.   
Josh pondered that for a moment. "Okay, fair point. Now, why did you capture James and I? We didn't do anything wrong. We were just helping a scared girl escape the custody of people she didn't like. Sure, I get why you want to lock her up, her being four hundred years old or so, but what about James and I? What are we going to do?"

Kaila looked at her hands for a moment, and then fixed Josh with a steely gaze, "We need you and your companion, James was it (?) to do something for us, so we can sweep this entire incident under the radar without anything or anyone getting hurt."  
Josh narrowed his eyes. That sounded... ominous. "How do you mean?"  
"We know you work for SquarexTV, Joshua." Kaila said, "You are in desperate need of a good scoop, and we've got one for you. We'll get other people out of the way for you, and you only need to do one simple broadcast for us. Just one."  
Josh narrowed his eyes again, "You've talked about James and I, what about Beauty? What happens to her if I decide to do the broadcast?"  
Kaila looked as though she didn't want to answer, but with a sigh, told him. "She'll need to stay in the Society's hands. Her knowledge could advance human thinking far beyond where it needs to go at the present time and could totally change history."  
"...What, you know what happens in the future?" Josh said, with a smirk.  
"Yes, Joshua." Kaila said sternly, "The Society DOES know."  
Josh had just thought of something, "I have a compromise for you."  
"The Society does not barter!" Kaila snapped.  
"..Well, if you want me to do the broadcast willingly, you better bloody will." Josh said. "I will persuade James to do the broadcast, whatever it may be, and I will willingly do it, as long as we get to stay with Beauty afterwards and that she doesn't get carted off to the remote edges of the earth."

"Why?" Kaila said, "Why would you do that?"  
"Well, Beauty has just woken up from a four hundred year long sleep!" Josh said, "She needs to learn to acclimatise. Plus, apparently I'm the splitting image of her dead fiancé boyfriend type person, and I reckon it'd make life a lot easier for her here."

Kaila was watching him talk with her eyes narrowed.

"She's not a pet." Josh said, "She's a human, despite the fact that she's from a place that isn't supposed to exist. She needs to live her life, and James and I can help her do that."  
Kaila said, "I will be back." She abruptly stood up from the table and left the room, the strange fold back door opening and shutting to let her out.

Josh raised an eyebrow. Ookay.. That was weird. Very weird. He didn't understand her abrupt exit from the room, but he hoped it was progress.  
He felt as though he had to look after Beauty. She knew him, she knew Karan. He didn't want her to be stuck in some jail cell buried deep under Antarctica (or wherever the Society kept their prisoners) for the rest of her life.  
Josh sat there for what felt like another ten or so minutes, but could have easily been a hell of a lot longer. He drummed his hands on the table anxiously, waiting for the Society's decision. At least, that was where he presumed the absent Kaila had gone. 

There was a humming noise and the fold out door thing opened. Kaila strode in and sat down at the table in front of Josh.

"You're lucky, Joshua." Kaila said, steadily. "Your request has been approved. You can stay with Beauty, but your interactions with the outside world will be lesser than you might perhaps like."  
Josh didn't really get the meaning in her words, but was happy that Beauty wouldn't be carted off to a remote hole somewhere down south (he presumed). "Well, what do you want James and I to do? I'll need a script or a teleprompter or something for you to tell me what to do."  
Kaila stood up, walked over to his side of the table and grabbed his wrists. She handcuffed them both together with strange green handcuffs and said, "Now, don't you DARE think of running off, or you'll be electrocuted. Okay?"  
Josh nodded, slightly scared of her. "Okay." 

And much sooner than Josh would have liked, he found himself near the castle on the outskirts of Ultima, preparing for a live broadcast that he would have rather not have done. But, really, what choice did he have? At least this way he would be able to protect the planet from things they had absolutely no idea or grasp on yet. So, perhaps it was positive. Just perhaps.  
The castle area was deserted aside from him and James and a couple of the Society people who were helping with the live broadcast equipment. Josh presumed that the Society had paid the crews off, or something of the kind, to get them to leave the site without saying a word.

Josh jumped about, wringing his hands, trying to loosen up a bit and relax before the broadcast. He knew what he had to say, he had gone over it at the Society buildings and there was also a teleprompter, but he didn't really want to say it. He wasn't sure about how his life would go after this broadcast.

It was five to six. He got a call through on his earpiece from his manager at SquarexTV, with the five minute call. The manager would tell him when he was live on air, which would be helpful.

Josh breathed deeply. This was it. This would secure his, James's and Beauty's freedom.. or at least as much freedom that they could get.

 

"And Josh, you're live in five - four - three - good luck - one, and NOW!"

Josh stared straight into the camera lens and started talking, "Hello viewers, I'm Joshua Moore. Today I am here at the scene of the castle discovery that we were at three days ago, on the outskirts of Ultima on the East Coast. Several things have been discovered about this castle. This castle isn't actually a proper historical castle, but instead it is one that has been especially and elaborately built for the filming of a new movie called Blaze, by Starstruck Studios which is due to be out in theatres in twenty thirteen. Here is an interview with the movie's director."

“And you're off for three minutes.” The person in the studio said in Josh's ear piece. Josh shook his sweaty hands out and prepared for the rest of his broadcast.

The people in the studio would be playing a quick interview that Josh and James had filmed with a Society actor earlier in the day. That interview would explain the existence of the castle, and also stop any pesky historians coming out to the site in the days after the broadcast.   
  
“And you're back on in three – two – one, NOW!” The voice from the studio said.

“Now, as you might recall, there was a girl discovered in this castle, her origins unknown.” Josh said, to the camera. “However, since she was discovered, we have found out why she was in the castle. She was a victim of a particularly cruel prank, the persons involved in it, unknown, but we believe it was the result of a dare. She has remembered what happened before she appeared in the castle. She was taken from where she was walking along the street and knocked on the head. She currently has a head wound and is in hospital. She was then taken to the castle, dressed in old-fashioned robes, and an anonymous tip off was phoned to the police about the castle, ensuring that she would be found before nightfall. She is currently on a fine road to recovery. That was a follow up to our story from two days ago about the castle discovered on the outskirts of Ultima, on the East Coast. If you missed that story, be sure to check it out on our website, SquarexTV dot com, or on our Facebook page. I've been Joshua Moore, and I'm here reporting live for SquarexTV. Thank you.” Josh smiled at the camera until a voice came in his ear from his person at the studio.  
  
“Annd you're off Josh, nice work. Caitlyn expects to see you in the office in a couple of days.”

Josh rolled his eyes, ignoring the voice. James turned the camera off and held his thumbs up to Josh. “Nice work.”

“..Meh, it was alright.” Josh said. “It could have been better... I messed up a couple of words.”    
“Nah, you were really good.” James said, “Far better than I could have been.”  
“Well... that is why you're the camera guy and I stand in front of it making up sentences.” Josh teased his buddy.   
James looked a bit put out for a moment. “Not fair.... but I guess you're right.”  
Josh poked his tongue out at James. Now the broadcast was over, he could relax. “Aww. You know, we can probably pack this stuff up and then leave. That'll be good, won't it!”


	5. Several Days Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beauty is all good now.

Several days later....

  
Beauty, James and Josh met in a rose garden on the outskirts of Metropolis. James and Josh had been working at SquarexTV solidly for the last five days, and hadn't had a chance to see Beauty, so it was good to see her in fine condition.  
"Where have you been staying?" Josh asked her, once they were all sat down on a park bench. Two Society guards stood in the background, keeping watch and trying to seem inconspicuous.  
"I've been staying with some other strange creatures." Beauty said, "There's a shape morpher, an elemental and a few other creatures I never would have believed were possible to exist. It's magical, really."  
"Quite literally." James said, smirking.  
"Yes." Beauty replied, "And what about you two boys?"  
"Oh... we're just working." Josh replied for both of them. "I trust that they're not keeping you in some kind of jail cell thing?"  
"Well..." Beauty leaned closer to them, and cast a slightly nervous look at the guards, "..I don't believe the dessert is the best it could be... It needs to be slightly more.. sweet."

Josh gasped at her, and then burst out laughing. James quickly followed suit.  
  
"I was beginning to worry!" Josh said. "Don't ever do that again!" He mock punched her on the arm.  
"Would you like to visit next week?" Beauty said, "I'm sure my 'minders' wouldn't mind."  
James cast a worried glance at the minders, "Perhaps you should visit us in the city. We should make cupcakes!"  
"..Look, just because we live in the same apartment gives you an excuse to say things without consulting me." Josh said, and rolled his eyes at James. "Not cool... but sure, she can come over and make cupcakes with us... Jeez, we're becoming so effeminate. This is your entire fault, James."

James rolled his eyes back.

"I'll give you our address." Josh said, conjuring a pad of paper and a pen from what looked like thin air. "And your 'minders' can get you to us. They did promise." He wrote their Metropolis address down.  
"Yes. They did." Beauty said, with a glance at her minders. "Thanks boys. It has been good to see you. Stay safe and well."  
She stood and smoothed her skirt down, then took the piece of paper that Josh offered.  
"See you Beauty." James said.  
"Yes, laters, Beauty. Don't almost get run over again." Josh said.

Beauty had recounted her almost being run over escapade earlier in the conversation. She didn't seem to get cars that well.  
  
"Everything goes so fast here!" She gasped. "Goodbye boys. I will see you soon!" And she turned and walked off.  
  
James and Josh waved at her as she joined her minders and they left the rose garden.

"She's very strange, isn't she, Josh?" James asked.  
"Yes. She is." Josh replied, "But she's a princess from another time. I think it's to be expected, don't you?"

James nodded. The boys quickly made their way out of the garden and headed out to the road to find a bus back into Metropolis.

"I reckon Beauty awakening has been one of the best things that has happened this year, don't you?" James asked Josh.  
"...yes..." Josh said, "But so was that award that we got for best news duo. Oh, who am I kidding, Beauty awakening has been the best thing that has happened this year... and thanks to her, the Society has taken us on as news people whenever they need information given! How awesome is that?"

James echoed his celebratory statement, and then followed him as Josh gangnam style danced along the road, purely because he could.

Because, of course, why not?


End file.
